May 10, 2013; Seattle, WA, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Dan Straily (67) pitches to the Seattle Mariners during the game at Safeco FIeld. Seattle defeated Oakland 6-3. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports

Dan Straily will face the White Sox in game one as the A’s start a four-game set in Chicago Thursday. The young phenom struggled mightily in his first few starts after getting called up but has found a way to get back on track. Straily has dominated opponents as of late; he is 2-0 with an 0.95 ERA and has 14 strikeouts in has last three starts. His last start came on Saturday against the White Sox when he threw six innings of one-run baseball and struck out eight.

Jose Quintana, who opposed Straily on Saturday as well, will try to get revenge on Thursday. In Quintana’s last start (against Oakland), he only lasted 5.1 innings and allowed three runs on ten hits and fortunately ended up with a no-decision. In his last three starts, he is 1-1 with a 3.57 ERA and 14 punch-outs.

DownSide: Right now, there isn’t much of one so lets just ignore it.

UpSide: The A’s are pitching well and winning games. Oh yeah, and Josh Reddick has been doing quite well since returning from the DL.

FanSide: Lets go Oakland!

Probable Starters 

Friday, June 7, 5:10 PM PDT

Jarrod Parker (4-6, 4.90 ERA) vs. Chris Sale (5-3, 2.44 ERA)

Saturday, June 8, 1:10 PM PDT

Tommy Milone (6-5 3.91 ERA) vs. John Danks (0-2, 5.63 ERA)

Sunday, June 9, 11:10 PM PDT

A.J. Griffin (5-4, 3.67 ERA) vs. Hector Santiago (1-4, 3.35 ERA)

May 20, 2012; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum (55) is hit by by Oakland Athletics outfielder Collin Cowgill (12) while attempting to tag out Cowgill at home plate in the fourth inning at AT

The Athletics have won eight of their last nine games and are coming off of a three-game sweep of the Houston Astros. The San Francisco Giants have won five of their last ten and are coming off a series against the Colorado Rockies in which they won two of the three games. Both teams have nearly identical records: The A’s are 28-23, and the Giants are 28-22. The Athletics are currently in second place, 4.5 games behind the division leading Texas Rangers. San Francisco is tied for first place with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West.

The Athletics will send Dan Straily to the mound for game one of the series in Oakland. Straily will go into the game with a 2-2 record and 5.73 ERA in six starts this season. He has not performed as well as most have expected him to thus far. Going deep into games is something he has struggled to do, but in his last start he showed signs of correcting whatever problems it is he had. Going into Texas in his last start on May 21, many held their breath and kept their fingers crossed in hopes Straily would perform well against the powerful Rangers lineup. Straily surrendered only two hits over seven shutout innings while striking out five against Texas’ potent offense. Hopefully he can have an even better start when he faces the Giants on Monday.

Bruce Bochy and the San Francisco Giants will have lefty Madison Bumgarner take the hill for them in game one. Bumgarner has had an excellent start to his 2013 campaign. He is 4-2 with a 2.89 ERA in ten starts. His last start was very similar to Straily’s last start. Against the Washington Nationals, Bumgarner pitched seven innings, gave up one earned run on four hits, and also struck out five hitters.

Like most Bay Bridges Series games, Monday’s game should be another grueling game that leaves the fans biting their nails until the very end.

DownSide: The A’s will face the Giants best starting pitcher on Monday.

UpSide: The Athletics have been playing very good baseball and are coming back to Oakland after going 5-1 against teams in Texas.

FanSide: Lets go Oakland!

Probable Starters

Tuesday, May 28, 7:05 PM PDT

Mike Kickham (making first career start) vs. Jarrod Parker (2-6, 5.76 ERA)

RT to wish #40 Bartolo Colón a happy 40th birthday! twitter.com/Athletics/stat…

— Oakland Athletics (@Athletics) May 24, 2013

After a rough start to the month of May the Oakland Athletics have found their winning stroke. The A’s will be in Houston for the weekend to take on the Houston Astros – a team that the A’s have a perfect record against this season. The Astros, who were moved to the AL West this season, have lost all six games they have played against Oakland. Yes, I am sure that Oakland have enjoyed welcoming Houston to the AL West due to their perfect record against the team. And I am sure the A’s have no problem playing them 19 times during the season. Well, the A’s have a chance to continue this winning streak against Houston over the weekend in a 3-game series.

May 12, 2013; Seattle, WA, USA; Oakland Athletics pitcher Tommy Milone (57) pitches against the Seattle Mariners during the first inning at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

The Athletics will send Tommy Milone to the mound for game one of the series. Milone is coming off of his first win in his last six games. He lost five games in a row before beating the Kansas City Royals on May 18. Tommy Milone is 4-5 with a 3.47 ERA with 49 strikeouts.

Erik Bedard will go to the hill for Houston to oppose Milone and the A’s. Bedard has received four no-decisions over his last four starts. He has a whacky 0-2 record over seven starts this year. He also has a 6.00 ERA on the season.

Probable Starters 

Saturday, May 25, 4:15 PM PDT

A.J. Griffin (4-3, 3.59 ERA) vs. Lucas Harrell (3-5, 4.63 ERA)

Sunday, May 26, 11:10 PM PDT

Bartolo Colon (4-2, 4.31 ERA) vs. Dallas Keuchel (1-1, 4.93 ERA)